vintage love

There is something about old things that I love. Vintage egg beaters, enamel ware, grandma's quilts, rustic doors, wicker chairs, antique books and globes. *sigh*. Perhaps its the memories of afternoon tea parties at my Auntie Mae's house in the country. Drinking tea from china cups and pumping away at the ancient pedals of her  pianola. Or holidays at my Nana's house where we slept in old wrought iron beds in the sleepout and and ate roast dinners cooked to perfection in her Aga stove.

So it was with excitement that I headed out the door to a local community garage sale on Saturday morning with family in tow. That's right, all 8 of us. :) Hubby was persuaded by the the promise of an early morning caramel latte from Gloria Jeans, and the kids were happy to tag along buoyed by the hope of spending their pocket money. Even the sun was shining.

We pulled up by the roadside and I spied my first treasure even before hubby had switched off the engine. :) While he and the kids ambled over to pat the jersey cows leaning over the fence (I know, right? Where was their commitment to the hunt for vintage ware???) I leapt walked casually over to the stall where my vintage treasure lay, unbelievably still unclaimed by passers by. It was almost better than I expected. A vintage wrought iron bed in perfect condition. *Swoon*. And only $30 to boot! Oh my!  10 minutes later, when hubby had spotted his wife waving at him like a crazed woman and slowly sauntered over to her, he, like the champion he is, agreed to purchase it, paying for it with money from his own wallet! And this is why I married this man.

True to my word we drove on towards the promise of a caramel latte, with the vintage bed safely secured to our Land Cruiser's roof racks. Warmed by his coffee, hubby was happy to visit the local op shop where I'd spied a  70's style bike earlier that week. This time it was C's turn to flip her lid! With the grand total of $6 paid to the teller she was proud owner of a red classic cruiser, complete with rusted chrome and flat tyres. Once it was tied to the roof racks (on top of the vintage bed) she actually leapt in the air. I kid you not. Joy of joys, the blood of vintage love runs thick through her veins :)

Once home we unloaded our treasures and set to. The bed looks divine in Miss G's loft room, at home amongst her collection of vintage Enid Blyton books. Miss C began her bike restoration, which defied all our expectations and took less than an hour. She applied WD40 to the rusted chain, pumped up the flat tyres which turned out NOT to have punctures, scrubbed away at the rusted chrome with aluminum foil(try it - you'll be amazed) until it actually shone, and attached a basket to the handlebars. *Love* I've actually ridden it and its divine! The high handlebars and seat mean you sit up straight like Mary Poppins and feel like a true lady. :) The absolute best thing though is watching Miss C ride about the yard on it, wide grin spread across her face.